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Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

theguardian.com

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Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#61

Post by yebyen »

sly010 wrote: post #38
criley2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would recommend talking to your doctor before accepting medical advice on the internet. Please do not accept medical recommendations from strangers who are not licensed to offer medical advice. Also, if you continue to have to treat symptoms on a regular basis you did not "cure" anything, cure implies that you are free from managing your symptoms. Rather you are managing symptoms and doing nothing about the cause.

> Rather you are managing symptoms and doing nothing about the cause. Which is also what a licensed MD does when he/she puts you on a proton pump inhibitor.

Ulcers are one of the possible results of acid reflux, that's a symptom too but also a risk factor. You won't be able to heal ulcers if you don't get the acid reflux under control somehow first.

I'm on Pantoprazole for over a year now and saw my doctor a few weeks ago; I asked about long term risks, and she mentioned stomach cancer, but framed the dangers a bit differently than what I've read in the article from this study.

Basically the established risk is that these PPI drugs work so well that if you were to develop stomach cancer while taking it, the likelihood is strong that the drug would mask the symptoms of the cancer until it was already too late to treat it effectively.

Long story short, I am not (this kind of) scientist, I know it's not a miracle drug but I can testify with anecdata that it certainly does a great job of controlling reflux.

(What my doctor did recommend was of course better diet and exercise habits, not eating so late in the day, and not drinking alcohol right before bed, so I can eventually stop taking it without those symptoms coming back.)

It's quite worrisome for me reading this article now!

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#62

Post by jcadam »

trey-jones wrote: post #52

The same PPIs were linked to dementia in a study a few years ago, and I began to transition off at that time. I eat a lot of Tums and generally just try to be more mindful of what I eat. I'm also considering surgery at some point.

I switched from protonix (a PPI) after 6 years of constant use to Pepcid (an H2 blocker). Rebound reflux is real and I had to wean myself off the PPI gradually. Now, I take 40mg of Pepcid daily and Tums as needed.

Usually I'm allright if I avoid trigger foods (anything high in saturated fat, excessive sugar, onions, etc.). For some reason I can handle drinking coffee but black tea triggers my reflux like nothing else.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#63

Post by cma »

jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

They are also fairly strongly linked to Alzheimer's.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#64

Post by sushid »

jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

Have you tried probiotics and/or walking for 10-15 minutes after eating? I get the occasional GERD but nothing if I do both of those things afterwards.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#65

Post by klipt »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #57
jasonhn9999 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paradoxically, I cured my reflux with betaine HCL (with pepsin) and digestive enzymes. I found that when I eat meat and/or when I’m stressed, my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid. This leads to a build up of reflux because the meat is essentially rotting in my stomach, which creates awful “bad acid” reflux. Instead of the drug(s), with every meal, I recommend taking one capsule of betaine HCL (with pe…

>my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid. Most acid reflux is due to mechanical action of a sphincter not working correctly. This, if correct, is an edge case. This is most likely an evolutionary flaw that can't be fixed short of genetic engineering. I also have this my experience is your opposite. Carbs cause excess acid for me and that means my leakage rate is higher. Eating more meats and veg helps a…

Yeah I assume my sphincter problem is genetic since several family members have it too.

I use a simple mechanical solution - go to sleep on a wedge pillow. Works way better for me than H2 blockers (which would last for 6 hours of sleep, then I'd wake up with horrible reflux because they'd worn off and thanks to the rebound effect, my body was making even more acid to compensate).

By comparison, now if I wake up later in the night now I can usually remove the wedge pillow and go back to sleep with no problem.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#66

Post by Bartweiss »

e40 wrote: post #42
Angostura wrote: post #41

> “The most plausible explanation for the totality of evidence on this is that those who are given PPIs, and especially those who continue on them long-term, tend to be sicker in a variety of ways than those for whom they are not prescribed.”

After being on Prilosec for 2 years, I had an endoscopy and the pictures of the inside of my stomach were odd. Little bumps over the entire inside. I asked the doc and he said "we don't think those are a problem". Right. I got off it immediately.

He had a point, though: PPIs are known with very high certainty to cause benign polyps from the fundic glands. Even if they do cause cancer, it's not by that means.

Whether or not they're a good drug to be taking long-term, I think the doctor's response was sound.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#67

Post by oliwarner »

Hacker News continues to amaze. There's always a worrying high ratio of comments in health and diet threads from people making drastic and impulsive decisions without medical advice, usually off the back of incomplete conclusions or anecdote.

Newspaper coverage certainly needs to contain more scrutiny of the quality of scientific papers (and their review), but this paper explicitly concludes that there are other factors at work.

Don't stop taking your meds. If you have reflux issues and you're concerned about this, take the paper to your specialist and get their informed opinion.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#68

Post by gogopuppygogo »

jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

I was on PPI's for a bit. I went on a strict diet and lost about 100lb's which got the disease under control.

Recently I have found CBD's work wonders for helping every aspect of my GI issues. I can't believe how amazing CBD's are. It's no wonder that pharma is working overtime to keep this kind of product out of our hands.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#69

Post by Bartweiss »

oliwarner wrote: post #67

Hacker News continues to amaze. There's always a worrying high ratio of comments in health and diet threads from people making drastic and impulsive decisions without medical advice, usually off the back of incomplete conclusions or anecdote. Newspaper coverage certainly needs to contain more scrutiny of the quality of scientific papers (and their review), but this paper explicitly concludes that there are other fact…

Notably, this isn't the first study to raise an uncertain, correlation risk about PPIs. A specialist, or in many cases even a GP, should be aware of the topic and able to answer questions.

I'm also a bit disturbed to see people framing this as "comfort versus cancer" - seeing as untreated acid reflux can be a cause of esophageal cancer, "I'll just quit without asking a doctor" is far from a sound course of action.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#70

Post by yeureka »

As someone who as been taking these for 3+ years and is utterly scared of these news I would just like to add a few data points regarding my experience that might help others:

- an endoscopy revealed level 1 oseophagitis

- triggers for me include: coffee, tea or any other source of caffeine, fried and high fat foods, alcohol, acidic fruits, high protein foods.

- an experiment with betaine HCL + pepsin was very painful. After that I learned that pepsin is as bad or worse to your oesophagus than stomach acid.

- cider vinegar: same result as betaine HCL + pepsin.

- digestive enzymes: no change.

- pro-biotics, including kefir: no change.

- cutting gluten, dairy and sugar: no change.

- ranitidine: works but effectiveness drops rapidly.

- on-going experiments: liquorice and low-fodmap diet, no conclusions yet.

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